The unwanted entrance of solar rays through the windows of vehicles is a well-known and generalized problem that affects the safety and comfort of drivers and passengers alike. For starters, there is the high risk of the rays obscuring the vision of the driver and causing accidents. Secondly, the vision of other passengers may also be disturbed by these rays. Both driver and passenger may additionally suffer from lesions on the skin due to excessive UV exposure, affecting the face and other exposed areas of the body when inside of the vehicle. Lastly—but not less importantly—another unwanted consequence of the largely unrestricted penetration of solar rays through the vehicle's windshield and glass windows relates to the increase of heat inside of the cabin of the vehicle. In periods of high temperatures the amount of energy that enters a car and bounces-in overheating its interior can even become deadly, as an increasing number of cases of pets and children found dead after being left for a few minutes inside of hot cars has sadly demonstrated. Without going to such extremes, the heat at the interior of the vehicle due to its exposure to solar rays penetrating its transparent surfaces while parked, is an every-day nuisance for people in hot climates which conspires against the comfort of driving or riding cars, vans, trucks, and other vehicles.
So bothersome is this problem that a large number of devices for solar and UV rays protection has been developed through the years for placing outside or inside the vehicle to mitigate the aforementioned negative effects, none of which proved to be entirely satisfactory for various reasons. These attempted solutions range from the application of darkening films directly to automotive glass surfaces to the provision of screens with suction pressure cups, strips or elastics.
In the case of coating the windows with film, such an alternative proves to be costly and sometimes unfeasible and/or inaccessible to many vehicle owners. In addition, compliance with traffic regulations impose some limitations on their application, which should be done preferably by a qualified professional, further increasing the costs involved.
Regarding the use of a screen with suction cups, such a device seems to be devoid of any practicality, needing to be properly mounted and installed on the inner surface of automotive windows, and also with the risk of falling by gradually losing the vacuum created in the pressure and suction disc that keeps it fixed to the glass. It is therefore complex and difficult to handle, occasionally requiring the use of excessive force to remove it, and it is not recommended to place it on the side window of the driver's door, as it may disturb and even cause accidents.
Similar is the case of screens using strips, ropes or elastics as means for attaching them. They are difficult to install and uninstall and do not allow safe driving of the vehicle and storing inside the vehicle.
Given just a few of the problems listed above and the purpose of overcoming them, as well as providing the market with a much more practical, simple, highly effective, easy-to-transport and low-cost solution when compared to other existing alternatives, the now revealed automotive protective plate was idealized, designed and developed.